One of the biggest moves of the off-season for Tennessee was when quarterback Hendon Hooker announced that he would be returning to Knoxville for his final super senior year. Excitement quickly filled the air as many realized that Tennessee would get one more year of Hooker paired up with head coach Josh Heupel.
However, before that announcement was made in December, there was a bit of mystery in the air as to what Hooker would end up doing. Hooker had just wrapped up a terrific regular season that saw him go from backup quarterback to top-ranked QBR quarterback in the SEC.
During the season three premiere of Tennessee’s The Slice podcast, Hooker spoke to Vol Network reporter and host Kasey Funderburg about what all went into that decision.
“Just talking to my coaches and collaborating with my family as well,” Hooker said on the podcast. “Getting feedback from the NFL. I felt like it was in my best interest to come back another year and develop a little bit more. And maybe boost my draft stock a little bit.”
From the little information that Hooker gave on the subject, it does sound like the quarterback believes that another full season at Tennessee will help his chances at the NFL.
Prior to the return announcement from Hooker, The Athletic’s NFL draft expert Dane Brugler released his positional rankings heading into the early portion of draft season. In those initial rankings, Hooker was slotted as the No. 12 quarterback prospect in the class. Additionally, in Sports Illustrated’s positional rankings from December, Hooker was slotted at No. 15.
For reference, the 2021 NFL Draft only saw ten quarterbacks drafted in total, tied for the fewest quarterbacks taken in a draft since 2015. Ultimately, Hooker will benefit significantly with another full year under Heupel and in his system, which will surely improve his stock.
In fact, in some ways, it’ll be Hooker’s first time going through the motions. When Hooker first arrived at Tennessee, he was placed in the middle of a four-man quarterback battle that involved two transfers, two returners, and a brand new coaching staff. Hooker spent the entire pre-season going through a quarterback battle as opposed to preparing his offense and didn’t even start until the third game of the season.
Heading into the 2022 season, Hooker is, without question, Tennessee’s starting quarterback barring injury. And now, he and the team will be able to prepare that way. Heupel and offensive coordinator Alex Golesh will have all off-season to fine-tune the offense around Hooker’s strengths, which should provide the veteran quarterback with even more opportunity to thrive.
Speaking of Heupel, the Vols’ head coach and his quarterback shared a fun interaction when Hendon Hooker told him about his decision to come back to Tennessee in December.
Tennessee QB Hendon Hooker describes how he told Josh Heupel about his decision to return to Knoxville and how Heupel reacted to it.
“Let’s go to Atlanta!” pic.twitter.com/kciuC90gwu
— Rocky Top Insider (@rockytopinsider) December 14, 2021
Hooker’s full appearance on The Slice podcast can be found here.
